On the edge of the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona, the STAR (Service to All Relations) School has spent more than two decades redefining what education can look like. The solar-powered public school is nationally recognized for its innovative approach to sustainability, but one of its most impactful initiatives reaches far beyond the classroom: The Food Sovereignty Program. Through gardening, traditional foods, language revitalization, and community partnerships, the program is helping students reconnect with their culture while building healthier futures for their families.
According to STAR School co-founder and board president Mark Sorensen, the program began with a simple observation. When the school first started serving healthy meals, many students would remove the vegetables from their trays and throw them away. The children simply had little experience with foods like broccoli, lettuce, or tomatoes because they had not been regularly available in their communities. Rather than forcing students to eat unfamiliar foods, the school decided to help them develop a relationship with them.
“We started greenhouse growing because we’re in the high desert,” Sorensen said. “The growing season is only in the summer when the students aren’t at school. We wanted the students engaged during the winter months, so we built greenhouses where they could grow vegetables while they were actually in school.”
What began as a school gardening project soon evolved into a broader effort to address food insecurity, diabetes, and water access within the surrounding Navajo communities. Because diabetes rates remain disproportionately high among Native populations, STAR School recognized that teaching the students about healthy eating could also influence entire families.
Food sovereignty is woven into students’ daily education. Beginning in third grade, every student participates in gardening classes where they plant, maintain, and harvest crops. Students also care for livestock, collecting eggs from the school’s chickens and growing traditional crops such as corn, beans, and squash—the “Three Sisters” that have sustained Indigenous communities for generations.
“Children actually have a relationship with these traditional foods,
The program extends beyond agriculture by incorporating Diné language and cultural knowledge into the learning process. Students visit local Native farmers, participate in harvests, and celebrate an annual Harvest Festival featuring traditional foods, including blue corn mush, mutton, squash dishes, and melons grown by the school. Food becomes a gateway to language learning, allowing students to build vocabulary while strengthening connections to their cultural heritage.
For Sorensen, one of the program’s greatest successes is not measured by the vegetables harvested but by the conversations it creates between generations.
“Children actually have a relationship with these traditional foods,” he said. “It’s not just a matter of eating healthy food. They recognize how it’s grown, how it’s treated, how you harvest it. They experience the whole cycle.”
He added that these experiences also help students connect with elders through shared traditions and Navajo language, bridging generational gaps that have widened over time.
The program’s influence often extends into students’ homes. Sorensen recalled one parent who was diagnosed with diabetes who ignored repeated advice from doctors to stop drinking soda. The turning point came when his daughter, who had participated in STAR School’s water education program, encouraged him to choose water instead.
“He said, ‘This is my daughter. I know she loves me,'” Sorensen recalled.
Her encouragement inspired him to change his habits, demonstrating how children can become powerful advocates for healthier communities.
Despite its success, the program faces challenges. Changes to USDA and state school meal regulations have made it more difficult for schools to serve food grown on campus in their cafeterias. As a result, students often prepare freshly harvested produce during gardening classes or the school distributes excess food to community members instead. Sorensen believes greater flexibility in food safety regulations would allow schools like STAR to better integrate locally grown food into student meals.
Through partnerships with organizations including Newman’s Own Foundation, the USDA Farm to School Program, and the Native American Agriculture Fund, STAR School continues to expand its work while serving as a model for Indigenous education nationwide.
Sorensen hopes every student leaves STAR School with an appreciation for where food comes from and the traditions that surround it. “I hope they have a much fuller appreciation of the cycle of growing and harvesting food,” he said. “I hope they have a connection with traditional food, know that it can be delicious, and continue looking for it throughout their lives.”
